Celebrating a Decade of Anime DDR Style

Pas · Post by **Pas** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 4:58 am

DDR!!!

YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH /GETS

EDIT:

hmm... firstly, I applaud your effort into making this, if anything I'll keep watching it simply because of it's uniqueness. However, there's a number of factors involved in this that kept me from *really* enjoying this AMV. Firstly, because of the huge visual overload, it was hard to find any point in the AMV which really rose above the rest of it. While this could be called simply having everything awesome, it also prevented it from having any buildup, and thus any climax point, which is ashame because in any standard AMV, even a few seconds of footage from yours could be considered a climax point.

Secondly, and this may just be me speaking as a designer, but your choice of typography was terrible. Hobo STD? Seriously, I know it may seems like a nice font to begin with simply because it's curvy yet legible, but it also happens to be one of the most overused typefaces for many beginners. Because of this, it's often seen as a shitty typeface, and one to avoid. I also thought that it didn't really suit the mood of the AMV.

Thirdly, and probably the last big issue I had with this AMV was the visual overload. There is such a thing as too much, and this would be a prime example of that. At any point of the AMV there were about 5 different things going on. Being a DDR enthusiast myself, I found it frustrating that there were just random arrows flying around the screen with no real point. If anything, I would have preferred just a continuous stream of arrows that was synced to the music properly, just falling down from the top as is apparent with most DDR games. When they flew (quite literally) around the screen I couldn't help but wish that it'd be better off without.

Ok, so I've given what I considered to be the three largest negative points on this AMV. This doesn't mean I didn't like it, far from it, but I felt as though there were so many things that could have been done better, or even taken away. I understand that this was largely a test run for yourself, so I really look forward to your next AMV.

Since I seem to have written such a long post on this I may as well submit an OP later...

All in all, I did enjoy this, as much as my post towards it may seem, and I think it deserves a 3.5/5 for good visuals and effort, but a large lack of many of the other things I mentioned.

YouTube · Post by **Kionon** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 5:57 am

Where do I start?

I guess we're going to start where I always start:

ASPECT RATIO, ASPECT RATIO, ASPECT RATIO - I am afraid I always default to this, because when you use multiple sources, you absolutely, positively, without exception, MUST get aspect ratio correct, otherwise there simply is no way to post-correct with flagging, or with an external program such as VLC. Your viewer is stuck with deformed and quite ugly footage.

Your opening sequence was too long, and in fact, for the first thirty seconds or so, there was more going on than there was music to sync it too. So when the tempo changed, well, there was no impact.

Then there were the jaggies on your rotoscoping. Hey, I have the same problem, so do many others, but it is a legitimate gripe.

Finally, I felt the DDR arrows were entirely random. Now if you were making an entirely random video, that'd be one thing. However, you weren't. You were making a DDR inspired dance video, and that required that your DDR arrows be positioned to move or hit on beats. Having them fly around without meaning anything invariably means they are, well, meaningless.

I have to agree with Yue. Lots of work went into this, it's clear, but you lacked skill in execution, you oversaturated effects, and lacked coherence.

This is rare for me, I tend to keep the vast majority of what I download, but this one is definitely not a keeper.

-MD · Post by **-MD** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 8:21 am

I can agree with some things already said. It was a fun watch...I'll admit lol But yikes...a few things here and there that can be picked at >.<
I checked out your older vids.....I really like the ideas you had

in your older vids. I think all you need is just a lil help with the tech stuff and a few comments here and there. Most noticable...your openings are long as hell lol But yea...after a little brush up work...I can't wait to see your next

LeapofFate · Post by **LeapofFate** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 8:55 am

The Aspect Ratio needs some fixing.

I also found the visual concept very jumbled up.

Some of the masks were meh.

Though, I did enjoy some parts of the video :3

I do like your idea and how you tried to present it.

Eh, good job

I also liked the beginning with Lelouch

3.5/5

Gidrasan · Post by **Gidrasan** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 12:26 pm

omg... my eyes! @_@ my ears! >.< why quality a video is so bad? masks is very carelesses, don't used keying so much.... and opacity of all timeline it's no good...
but i thought this amv not bad, realy not bad and have hight potentiall...

Koopiskeva · Post by **Koopiskeva** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 1:34 pm

Similar to what people said, but this is more direct..

Video basically lacks focus, very good as a video to watch in a background, but there is no actual direction with the video. I like the effort you put into making all the syncs here and there though.

Shui · Post by **Shui** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:13 pm

It is really good.
I might op that thingie. It might get into my favourite list.

keep it on man that's genious

ZephyrStar · Post by **ZephyrStar** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 4:30 pm

Can't say as I liked this too much, and would agree to most of what's been said about aspect ratios, video quality, consistency, and focus. If you were just using this as a proving ground for testing effects, then okay, but the end result is like a lemur took acid and jumped off a skyscraper and is playing with itself in midair. But then in the end it doesn't get off. It just dies. Overall, for a light hearted dance video, it also could be better, as the text is incredibly busy and hard to follow.

You are on your way to achieving skills, but what you need is concept, and you need to come up with an awesome concept, and then don't kill it with effects, unless you're going for a "ooooh flashy pretty" effects video. But, if you're going to do effects for the sake of effects, then bygod they better be immaculate. That goes back to aspect ratios, masking, synch, lipflap, your color choices and usage, your font choices, every little detail should fit. And it just doesn't here.

I'm not trying to rip on you at all, I'm just offering some constructive criticism that could make you really really awesome if you take it to heart. I'm a perfectionist with my work myself, so take what I say with a grain of salt if you're just doing it for fun or to be a youtube slut

Neverend · Post by **Neverend** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 4:57 pm

I would say it was really messy, and loads of the effects were only half okey!
But you do get an A for effort! So i expect the next one to be awesome!

CodeZTM · Post by **CodeZTM** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 5:23 pm

It was really too busy for my personal taste. It lacked focus (like Koop said) and the video quality needed some work.

It wasn't bad, but I think more work would have brought out some better work.